Overview
The Resolve and Inspiration trees cover opposite ends of the rune spectrum. Resolve provides durability, sustain, and defensive power — essential for tanks, bruisers, and melee supports. Inspiration provides utility, gold efficiency, and creative options — taken by champions who want unconventional advantages. Learn more about League of Legends rune paths and their strategic applications.
These two trees often work together. Many tank supports take Resolve primary with Inspiration secondary for free boots and biscuits. Understanding both trees opens up flexible rune page configurations for nearly every role.
Resolve Keystones
Grasp of the Undying empowers your next auto-attack every 4 seconds in combat, dealing bonus magic damage based on your max health and healing you. It permanently increases your max health on each proc. Grasp is the go-to for melee tanks and bruisers in top lane — champions like Shen, Maokai, and Ornn stack it throughout the laning phase for massive late-game HP. The Resolve page on the LoL Wiki covers all keystones and lesser runes.
Aftershock grants bonus armor and magic resist after immobilizing an enemy champion, then explodes for magic damage after a delay. It is the standard for engage supports like Leona, Nautilus, and Alistar. Guardian shields you and a nearby ally when either of you takes damage, providing a shield and bonus movement speed. It is the keystone for protective supports like Janna, Lulu, and Braum.
Resolve Slot 1-3 Runes
Slot 1 options focus on lane durability. Demolish charges up damage against towers while near them, letting tank supports and top laners take turret plates and structures. Font of Life marks enemies you impair, letting allies heal when attacking them. Shredding tanks take Demolish for objective pressure.
Slot 2 offers sustain. Bone Plating reduces damage from the next three attacks or abilities after taking damage from an enemy champion — excellent into burst champions. Second Wind restores health over time after taking damage from an enemy champion, ideal against poke. Conditioning grants bonus armor and MR after 12 minutes, amplifying late-game tankiness.
Slot 3 provides scaling health. Overgrowth grants bonus max health per minion or monster death near you. Revitalize amplifies healing and shielding by 5% (10% on low-health targets). Unflinching grants tenacity and slow resist when below 30% health. Revitalize is standard on heal/shield supports, Overgrowth on tanks, and Unflinching against heavy CC.
Inspiration Keystones
First Strike deals bonus damage against champions after damaging them, and grants gold based on the bonus damage dealt. You must damage an enemy champion before they damage you to activate it. First Strike is taken by burst mages and assassins who want to accelerate their gold income — GP, Ezreal, and Karthus use it effectively.
Glacial Augment slows enemies you immobilize, creating icy zones that slow all enemies inside. After a delay, the zone shatters, damaging nearby enemies. It is the choice for utility mages and supports who can reliably slow or stun. Unsealed Spellbook lets you swap your summoner spells between different options while out of combat, providing immense flexibility for champions like Karma, Bard, and Twisted Fate.
Inspiration Slot 1-3 Runes
Slot 1 offers economic advantages. Hextech Flashtrap replaces Flash with a charged version that can be cast while moving. Magical Footwear grants free boots at 12 minutes with bonus movement speed. Perfect Timing grants a free stopwatch that can be upgraded to Zhonya's or Guardian Angel.
Slot 2 focuses on sustain and flexibility. Biscuit Delivery grants three biscuits every 2 minutes for the first 6 minutes, restoring health and mana permanently. Future's Market lets you go into debt to buy items, reaching power spikes earlier. Minion Dematerializer provides six charges that instantly kill and deal bonus damage to specific minion types.
Slot 3 offers combat utility. Cosmic Insight grants summoner spell haste and item haste, reducing cooldowns on Flash, Ignite, and item actives. Approach Velocity grants movement speed toward movement-impaired enemies, excellent for engage supports. Time Warp Tonic makes potions and biscuits take effect immediately, providing instant combat sustain.
Best Champs for Hybrid Builds
Some champions benefit most from combining Resolve and Inspiration. Tank supports like Leona and Nautilus often take Aftershock (Resolve primary) with Magical Footwear and Biscuits (Inspiration secondary). Top lane tanks like Shen and Maokai take Grasp with Demolish and overgrowth, sometimes adding Approach Velocity for sticking power.
Enchanters occasionally dip into Resolve as a secondary tree for Revitalize and Bone Plating or Second Wind. Inspiration secondary is universal — even ADCs and assassins take Magical Footwear and Biscuits for gold efficiency. The Resolve + Inspiration combo is most common on melee supports who need both durability and economic advantages.
Unsealed Spellbook is one of the most underrated keystones in solo queue. It lets you start Teleport for safe laning, swap to Ignite for a mid-game fight, and take Cleanse or Exhaust for late-game teamfights. The versatility is unmatched — especially on supports and flex picks.
